Kaien Shiba sensed that something was amiss.
The trail left by the Hollow before him wasn't particularly hard to find. Although it was concealed, it shouldn't have been exaggerated to the point where a report had to be filed requesting a Lieutenant to handle it personally.
Could it be that someone was just trying to slack off?
While pondering this, he drew his Zanpakuto and began to raise his guard.
This sort of thing simply wouldn't do. The 13th Division was currently in a period of transition where the new generation hadn't yet replaced the old. Although he was willing to come out for field duty, they couldn't count on him, the Lieutenant, for every single mission. After all, if he was out here, the squad duties would inevitably fall entirely onto Captain Jushiro Ukitake's shoulders, which might cause his illness to worsen again.
He would have to give the squad member who submitted this report a stern reprimand when he got back.
Thinking this in his heart, Kaien Shiba didn't plan to make a huge fuss about it; a simple reminder would suffice.
However, the wish to 'return' was destined to be unfulfilled.
Watching Kaien Shiba, who had already been infiltrated by that specially made Hollow, Gin Ichimaru couldn't help but voice his mockery.
"Is this the arrogance of the great nobles? Not even probing the opponent's abilities, and not inspecting the corpse after the battle ends. It seems that if he were placed in this year's batch, he'd be another guy sent back to the Shin'ō Spiritual Arts Academy for remedial training."
Such grievance-filled sarcasm coming from his mouth was clearly somewhat out of character. But who could blame Gin Ichimaru for wanting to use the battle to stall for time, hoping to find a suitable opportunity to lay his cards on the table with Suzuki Makoto?
Kaien Shiba's performance had truly disappointed him too much.
"It will be fine once his condition stabilizes. Gin, you watch him here. If there are any accidents halfway through, notify me then—Suzuki-kun, let's return to Hueco Mundo together first. I'll have a Gillian use Negación to summon us back."
Aizen had only come to place a seal and incidentally use the Hogyoku to stabilize Kaien Shiba's condition. The fact that he was willing to hand the Hogyoku to Suzuki Makoto did not mean he was willing to hand it to Gin Ichimaru.
Gin Ichimaru was anxious in his heart. He hadn't expected Aizen to trust Suzuki Makoto to such an extent. did he actually intend to let that man put the Hogyoku under the knife without making any advance preparations?
"No rush. Making a trip to the World of the Living is quite a hassle for me. I'll stop by Soken Ishida's place to pick up the experiment records from this recent period. I'll go to Hueco Mundo after that—just have Captain Ichimaru place a Senkaimon here. It saves trouble."
Suzuki Makoto shrugged.
Aizen didn't mind. Suzuki Makoto had already mentioned his delight in hunting Yhwach. Therefore, Aizen wasn't particularly concerned about Soken Ishida's side; on the contrary, Suzuki Makoto had always been excitedly staring at that defected Quincy, constantly pushing for new developments.
A sudden turn of events!
At this moment, Gin Ichimaru's heart was filled with wild ecstasy. He never expected that Suzuki Makoto would, by a stroke of luck, carve out a window of time for him where only Suzuki Makoto was present, without Aizen. This way, he might truly have the chance to ask Suzuki Makoto to retrieve Rangiku's soul fragment!
"Understood. I'll start constructing the Senkaimon right now. I won't let the noble lord down there discover any clues."
This time, Gin Ichimaru truly rallied one hundred and twenty percent of his focus to prepare the shielding measures. He had to consider that this might be the only opportunity in his life.
Suzuki Makoto didn't pay attention to Gin Ichimaru's reaction. He didn't know that this Captain of the 3rd Division, who had treason written all over the back of his head, was currently considering how to show his hand to him—he naturally had his own reasons for sending Aizen away.
Using Shunpo to rush all the way to Karakura Town, Suzuki Makoto first went to Soken Ishida's place as a matter of routine. He collected the experiment logs from the man he had already grown accustomed to and politely declined the other party's dinner invitation. Afterwards, he used Reishi to once again craft that set of Quincy attire and appeared at Kisuke Urahara's secret base.
"Hello, Captain Urahara."
"...Hello, Sir Knight of the Cross."
Kisuke Urahara, who looked significantly more weathered, smiled as he greeted Suzuki Makoto. However, this weathered look merely stemmed from the unkempt nature of a man living alone. Since that battle, he had moved out of the Urahara Shop and lived here alone to continue overseeing the research tasks assigned by Suzuki Makoto.
"I am truly sorry. I still haven't produced any new progress on my end."
"It doesn't matter. I am already quite satisfied with having a countermeasure targeting the Quincy's final form."
Suzuki Makoto didn't genuinely need Kisuke Urahara to use the data from Soken Ishida to come up with some brilliant response. After all, in another few decades, the entire Wandenreich would undergo a complete transformation from top to bottom. Any targeted measures developed now would inevitably be obsolete by the time of the Thousand-Year Blood War.
He simply wanted Kisuke Urahara to feel a bit more urgency.
Just like the words he was about to say.
"From now on, do not contact Yoruichi Shihoin's side anymore."
The man froze, the questions he had prepared in his heart instantly thrown into disarray.
"Why?"
"Sosuke Aizen is actively searching for your traces. He has set his sights on Kukaku Shiba... presumably, he discovered something. However, I am not too clear on exactly how far he has investigated. After all, the range of our kingdom is only within the Shadow Seireitei; the Shiba main family is not within our scope of surveillance."
Suzuki Makoto maintained that unquestionable tone.
Sosuke Aizen is looking for me?
Kisuke Urahara sucked in a breath of cold air; he had already realized the severity of the problem.
For so many years, Sosuke Aizen had barely paid any attention to him. Even with the disappearance of so many Captain-level combatants, he hadn't taken it to heart. Clearly, he didn't feel they could pose any hindrance. This had become a tacit consensus between them that they were unwilling to admit but maintained in silence—especially after Suzuki Makoto had single-handedly crushed their entire team.
And now that Aizen had begun searching for them, it meant he had something more important to obtain from their hands!
For example... that Hogyoku in his own possession!
And the most fatal problem lay in the fact that—Yoruichi Shihoin really was obtaining intelligence on the Soul Society through Kukaku Shiba.
Kisuke Urahara looked at the cold mask before him. Had this man considered this point in advance when he made him separate from Yoruichi Shihoin and the others to open up a new place for research alone?
"Sir Knight, Yoruichi Shihoin and the others—"
"Aizen won't be interested in them."
"But what if Aizen captures them and uses torture to extract a confession?"
"Do you think that you and them standing together in unity will make Aizen wary, or that you disappearing completely from Aizen's field of vision will make him feel more wary?"
Suzuki Makoto's words rendered Kisuke Urahara directly silent.
A hidden card is only a trump card as long as it remains unrevealed. If Aizen found them but couldn't find him, only then would he begin to truly regard him as an opponent. In that case, he wouldn't do anything to Yoruichi Shihoin and the others instead.
Because, he really did have a Hogyoku in his hands!
____
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